About Tonga Trench: The Tonga Trench is the deepest point anywhere south of the equator. The seafloor here is sinking into the Earth faster than your fingernails grow — but over huge distances. The trench sits next to the volcanic islands of Tonga. The Pacific Plate slides into the Tonga Trench faster than almost anywhere else in the world

Location: South Pacific Ocean, near the island nation of Tonga · Maximum Depth: About 10,882 m (35,702 ft) at a spot called Horizon Deep · Ocean: Pacific Ocean · Deepest Point: Horizon Deep · Formation: Formed where the Pacific Plate dives beneath the Tonga region · Plate Speed: One of the fastest-moving plate boundaries on Earth · Marine Life: Deep-sea animals adapted to darkness and cold live here · Earthquakes: The area has frequent powerful earthquakes · World Rank: The second-deepest ocean trench on Earth